


Far Cry From Home

by Dawnwolf17



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Camping, Driving, Everyone loves Steve and Bucky, Excessive Starbucks consumption, Explicit Language, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Idiots in Love, Infinity War never happened, M/M, Mentions of PTSD, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Road Trips, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 04:24:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15111734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawnwolf17/pseuds/Dawnwolf17
Summary: Steve made a promise years ago, a promise that has gone on pending too long and he never thought he would get the chance to fulfill.Bucky is unsure if it's really a good idea to do it but..it's Steve and he really wants it anyway.Or-- the one where Steve and Bucky go on a road trip to the Grand Canyon.





	Far Cry From Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AraniaArt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AraniaArt/gifts).



> This was my first time participating in the CapRBB and I have to say it was quite the experience. Huge thanks must go out to the amazing artist that inspired this story firstly for creating such an awesome piece of artwork, and second for putting up with my millions of questions and being so supportive and encouraging the whole time.   
> Literally could not have done it without her! 
> 
> Also big time thanks also must go out to my beta- this would have been a complete cringe train wreck if not for her sharp eye and great suggestions to make it better. 
> 
>  

“You’re not serious.” Bucky’s incredulous voice asks over the noise of a suitcase being grabbed from the top shelf of the walk in closet, the bag scraping heavily against the wall before crashing to the floor, missing its mover’s feet by mere centimeters. 

The big blond man in question turns, giving him a friendly but borderline antagonizing smile and he shrugs. “C’mon Buck, a little outdoors time never hurt anyone.” 

“But driving? All the way to the Grand Canyon? Steve you cannot be serious. That is such a bad idea.” Bucky crosses his arms in front of his chest, bionic one tucked under the flesh one. 

“Says who on what grounds?” Steve retorts as he continues rummaging around the closet for other bags. 

“Says I on the grounds that I am realistically aware of how far away that is, how long it will take to get there, and have no grand illusions whatsoever about how pleasant it is going to be stuck in the car with you for that amount of hours.” 

“I feel like I should be insulted, Buck. You mean you don’t wanna spend all that time with me? I’m a little hurt.” Steve turns his charm dial up to 11 and turns to face Bucky head on, knowing that the ex-Hydra agent still has a soft spot for his smile even after all these years. 

“That’s not it and you know it.” Bucky immediately takes up the defensive stance, eyebrows furrowing a little and scowl appearing on his face. 

“No? Why don’t you tell me why you think this is such a bad idea then?” Steve never was one to back down from a challenge and this was obviously not going to be the exception. 

Bucky gives him a look of sheer disbelief as he leans his hip against the walk-in closet door, a few loose strands of his dark brown hair escaping the bun he liked to keep it tucked in and hanging around his jaw. “You really gotta ask that? C’mon Rogers, really? Did the last few months just completely slip your mind? I thought I was the one here that was supposed to have memory issues.” 

Steve gives him a soft laugh in response and just shakes his head. “Buck. The last few months are exactly why I think we need to do this.” 

“Of course you do.” His voice is positively dripping in sarcasm. “Steve I know I’ve probably told you this close to a million times in our lifetime together - but your logic is flawed at best and usually stands closer to the line of just outright stupid. I’m one of the most wanted men in the country and I have at least two major government organizations out for my head and yours as well since you so stubbornly insisted on helping me, and your big solution to this is to take a road trip?” It was rare to get Bucky so vocal over anything- the idea of this trip must have really been affecting him in some way or another. 

“You’re stressed. I’m stressed. We used to talk about wanting to do this all the time when we were just two broke kids living in Brooklyn. What’s stopping us now?” 

“The threat of death seems like a pretty solid incentive to stay holed up here to me.” Bucky deadpans, giving Steve one of his patented ‘use your head for once’ glares. 

Steve just shakes his head and throws a bag at Bucky’s face, knowing his reflexes would make him catch it before it would actually hit his best friend. “How about you just go pack some clothes up instead of sitting here arguing with me?” 

“Did you even tell anyone else of your genius plan yet?” Bucky may be grasping at straws here but he’s desperate to try and make Steve see sense for just once in his life. 

“Of course I did. I had to ask to borrow one of Tony’s cars and I had to give a reason so I just told him the truth. He seemed to support it.” Steve responds casually as he starts removing his shirts from their hangers, rolling them up and tucking them into the bag laying at his feet. 

“You- I- Steve-” try as hard as he could- the brunette could not come up with a single thing else to argue so with a final glare in the big blond lunk’s direction, he angrily clutches the bag and storms away with as much dignity as he can manage. He’d never been the best at denying Steve anything and now his one real weakness is leading him into being drug on a random cross country road trip. 

Some things just never change. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Packing didn’t take long since neither man owned a whole awful lot of things- honestly the bulk of the time spent packing was actually spent arguing over how many knives and guns Bucky was allowed to bring. (Ten. Five guns and five knives. Absolutely no more than that- end of discussion Bucky.) 

They both packed up military standard duffle bags filled with jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, socks, underwear and all the essentials for living. Bucky still didn’t seem to grasp the concept that this was really happening and whenever he neglected to grab something for himself, claiming that he wouldn’t need it, Steve just tucked it into his own bag- which resulted in the blond having a massively overstuffed bag while Bucky’s could have been two sizes smaller and still not completely full. 

When they met up in the shared foyer of their floor and eyed each others bags up suspiciously, neither man said a word about it but they were both thinking the same thing. Idiot. 

After standing in front of each other and waiting for someone to say something, Steve finally breaks the tension a bit by setting his bag on the floor beside the door and walking over to sit casually on the arm of the couch. “So I’ve never been camping before unless you count what we did back in the army. I asked Pepper to help pick out supplies and things we’ll need for that and the delivery should be here soon.” 

As if Bucky hadn’t had enough shock for one lifetime. 

“Wait- when you said camping you meant...like actual camping? On the ground in a tent sort of camping? You know they make these things called RV’s now, right? So you don’t have to sleep in the dirt? I’m sure Stark can hook us up with one of those in a matter of minutes.” Unlike Steve- Bucky had no reservations whatsoever about asking for things from Tony. 

The two had almost managed to strike up a bit of a friendly relationship with one another in the past few months of living together. Tony had not handled a lot of things well originally- nearly calling for the Winter Soldier’s death order himself after finding out the truth of his parents - but after Steve and Natasha made him sit down and read over Hydra’s files on him, and after cornering the still scared shitless ex-assassin himself and having a long and serious talk with him and confirming that Bucky had not been in control of himself at all and that he still felt extremely painful guilt over everything Hydra made him do- the Billionaire had lowered his weapons and started to willingly help Bucky with his recovery. 

They weren’t exactly “friends” yet per say but they were on the way to being something similar at least. 

“Yes I’m sure he could but where’s the fun in that? Come on Buck, back in the day this was your dream! You always used to talk about how much you wanted to see the Grand Canyon and travel the United States. We didn’t have any fancy campers back then!” 

“Back in the day I used to have two arms and you used to not be able to step outside without running the risk of dying. Things can change, Steve.” He says pointedly, ignoring the little jolt he feels in his heart every time Steve brings up something he remembers about his past like that. 

Bucky still doesn’t have all the missing pieces of his brain connected together yet- there are a lot of things he doesn’t remember at all and even more things he isn’t sure if they are real events or things his mind made up to help him cope- but Steve seems to have the steel trap memory of an elephant when it comes to all things pre-war Bucky Barnes. He’s always throwing out little bits of information to see if any of it still resonates with him.   
It always breaks heart a little bit that Steve remembers all this stuff about him and he can barely remember his own middle name some days, much less his favorite color or some childhood dream vacation. But it makes him glad that he has Steve. He would be so completely lost without him. 

“So you don’t want to go? Truly?” Steve’s face drops- finally realizing that he may have been forcing Bucky into something he doesn’t want. The Soldier still isn’t great at standing up for himself or saying no to someone else’s desires for fear of punishment even though none of the Avengers have done anything but help him since he’s assimilated himself into their daily lives. 

Bucky sighs and hangs his head a little, walking towards Steve and resting his hand gently on his upper back, giving his shoulder a firm but still cautious squeeze with his left hand. Tony said it would be good for him to get used to handling things gently with that hand even when his every impulse screamed not to touch anything with it. 

He needs to stop the harmful view of himself as only being a weapon but it’s pretty hard to overlook all the pain and destruction he’s caused with that one single part of his unnatural anatomy. Steve doesn’t even flinch when he feels the cold metal touch anymore though so he supposed that’s some progress even if it isn’t so much on his own part. 

“That isn’t what I’m saying. I do want to go. I really do. I just don’t know how good of an idea it really would be for us to be so out in the open like that.” he explains in a gentle and calm voice as he lets his hand rub small but soothing circles into Steve’s tense shoulder blade. 

“On the contrary, Barnes, getting out might just be the best thing.” a calm and soft female voice says as Natasha steps out of the elevator onto their floor, walking towards them soundlessly.   
“You and Steve have been in this tower pretty much since the day you surrendered to the Avengers. A little change in scenery might be good for you.” 

She gracefully folds her legs under herself as she sits on the cushion right beside Steve’s knee, looking up at them expectantly.

She knows she’s right. 

“Bucky...things have been pretty quiet out there lately...since we put Pierce down Hydra hasn’t had the guts to come out of hiding again. I’m not saying we’re totally safe but...” Steve turns his head and stares at him with those stupid sappy blue eyes and Bucky knows that he’s going on this trip whether he thinks it’s a good idea or not. Especially now that the Natasha is involved.

“Alright, alright. We’ll go. I’m done arguing. I’m outnumbered and my will to say no is pretty weak to begin with.” he puts his hands up in visible surrender before walking around the couch, placing his hand firmly behind Natasha’s shoulder and using it as a pivot point as he swings his body easily over the back of the couch to sit beside her, shoving a fairly rough elbow into her side. “You coming too?” 

“Oh god no.” Natasha laughs and shakes her head, small smile pulling her lips up. “I want nothing to do with you and Steve’s little romantic getaway thank you very much.” 

Bucky can’t hold back the dramatic sigh even if he’d wanted to. That is the other thing about living in Stark Tower. Everyone has their own floors beside him and Steve. They shared their living space because it is convenient and honestly having Steve around helps Bucky feel more secure and calm in his new situation-- but everyone else in the tower is steadfast convinced that there is something more between them no matter how many times they outright deny it. 

Well...Steve would deny it. Bucky never really had much to say on the subject matter. It isn’t like dating Steve is the worst assumption someone could make about him...or the most dishonest one if you took his desires into consideration. Not that he would ever dare open his mouth and tell anyone that. Things are way different now than they were back in the 40’s but Steve is still as straight as they come and the last thing Bucky needs is the team pitying him for something else that is strictly out of his control.

He gets enough of that crap from being Hydra’s little perfect pet for almost 70 years. He tries to pretend that he doesn’t notice but sometimes he’ll just catch one of the Avengers looking at him with that stupid pitying face and he has to restrain himself mentally from just hauling off and smacking them across the room. He hates pity. He is pretty certain he’d inherited that attitude from hanging around Steve too much when they were younger. The blond had never let anyone mope for his sake when he was 90 pounds soaking wet and a stiff breeze coulda killed him so why should all 200 pounds of pure solid muscle that is the Winter Soldier let anyone feel bad for his ass? 

“Nothing romantic about two guys sitting in a car smelling like the woods after not showering for three days, Nat.” Steve deflects calmly. He doesn’t even seem to be thrown by people making assumptions about his and Bucky’s relationship now where at least in the beginning he’d turned red and got all awkward and stammery about it. Bucky kind of misses that reaction now. It had at least shown that he cared about it a little. 

“Three days without a shower?” Bucky asks curiously with the obvious undertone of horror in his voice.

He’d gone longer-- much longer -- without a shower when he was in Hydra’s hands but since coming back to a more or less civil and normal lifestyle, he’s found that showers are one of his favorite things and he likes to take one every day- sometimes even twice a day if it has been a difficult day to get through. They are still working on getting him comfortable with baths though. Too many similar but violent memories with being shoved into a tub full of water. 

“Could be. If we stay at nicer campgrounds that we have to pay for I’m sure they will have showers but there’s also going to be more people at those, Buck.” Steve reminds him with a gentle smile. “It’s August so I think we missed the big summer camping rush but I want you to be relaxed and happy and I know you’re not going to like sleeping in a canvas tent with a bunch of people milling around.”

Curse Steve and how well he knows him. 

“You better bring lots of cologne and deodorant or I’m kicking you out of the car and making you run alongside it. I know you sweat like a whore in church when you get the slightest bit warm and there’s nothing pleasant about the way you smell either.” Bucky huffs and refuses to look at Steve, absolutely not pouting. 

“Still smell better than you most days, pal.” Steve throws out casually and looks up when the elevator dings and opens to reveal Pepper walking out, arms loaded with bags of gear.   
Both sets of super soldier eyes widen in surprise at all the bags and Bucky actually gives an audible nervous loud swallow. “That’s a lot of camping stuff Ms. Potts.” he mumbles politely, having a deeply respectful fear for the woman brave enough to handle Tony. 

“I realize that. I made the mistake of telling Tony what I was ordering and he may have gone ahead and added a few things to the list without my knowing. Though I have to admit that some of the things he bought weren’t actually a bad idea and you boys may find it useful. Thank you Steve.” she explains and smiles when Bucky’s big blond idiot rushed over to take the bags from her, setting them in the middle of the living room floor to look over before packing it into the car. 

“Since when is Tony an authority in camping gear?” Bucky asks with a curious head tilt as he tries to peer into one of the massive bags to see what is inside. 

“Not sure. But I am terrified this is going to inspire him to want to do something similar and I will fully blame you two for making me have to deal with that.” Pepper’s smile is kind, showing that she’s just messing around. 

“Maybe it’d be good for Tony too. Get him out of the lab and into some real sunlight and air. Might prolong his lifespan a little bit.” Steve tosses out casually as he pulls two absolutely ridiculously thick and puffy sleeping bags out and weighs them in his arms. “Damn these things are huge. Does Tony think we’re camping in the arctic?” 

Bucky is waiting for someone to make a joke about Steve having already done that and he sort of wishes Tony was here at the moment because he would not hesitate to make a tasteless joke like that. Old Bucky probably wouldn’t have either but despite Steve’s multiple reassurances that he is wanted here, he still feels a little too on edge to cross any lines that could possibly be too sensitive to anyone. For the most part he knows and trusts that Steve isn’t going to react negatively to anything he does but he still isn’t too keen on taking any chances. 

“If you want to take him along- be my guest.” Pepper laughs and shakes her head, knowing Tony would survive maybe a day tops without being able to tinker around in his lab before he would become all different levels of cranky and antsy and would drive the other men insane. “But believe it or not his heart is in the right place with ordering those bags. I had much lighter ones picked out but Tony mentioned that it’s getting closer to fall and the midwest can be a little chilly at night. He knows you guys always seem to keep the thermostats up pretty high and didn’t want you to be cold.” she explains with a fond smile on her face and Bucky definitely feels a new soft spot form in his heart for Tony Stark. 

“That was very thoughtful of him.” Steve says, his own voice taking on a humbled and soft tone. He still always seems to be surprised when someone does something nice for him. 

“It was but I’m going to put my foot down right now and veto that idea. Steve, I thought this was supposed to be a romantic getaway for just the two of us?” Bucky snarks mockingly as he pulls two bright yellow and silver...things out of the bag closest to his feet. “And what exactly are these things?” 

“Now you sound like Natasha.” Steve points out the obvious with a little frown. He can't understand why everyone jokes with him about this- now including Bucky himself apparently! Isn’t it humiliating enough that he’s in love with his best friend that he doesn’t stand a chance with without people constantly rubbing it in his face? 

“They’re called ZPads.” Pepper cuts in before the two could really start into it with one another. “They are insulated foam mats that you put under your sleeping bag so you’re not laying directly on the ground. Makes it more comfortable and again will help with warmth.” Pepper explains.

“They also always fold back into his accordion shape so they’re easy to store and won’t take up much space in the car.” Always one for practicality, Pepper was. “When you’re setting up your sleeping arrangements, put the ZPad down first, then take this inflatable air mat-” she pulls a tightly rolled up green and brown mat in a drawstring bag out and shows it to them “- and put it on top of that. I didn’t get you guys special pillows or anything because I assumed you could just bring your own along. There’s not really a special camping pillow out there that would be any more beneficial to you guys then the ones right off your bed.” she sets the drawstring bag containing the air pad down looking at them expectantly. 

Bucky and Steve are both sort of looking at her like she had grown two heads but are nodding along regardless. “And...how exactly do you know all this?” Steve finally has the courage enough to ask- knowing both he and Bucky are thinking the same thing. 

“I can read reviews online, boys. And I know more people than you think- including people that know some things about camping and convenient comfortable travel.” she smiles and grabs the main event- their tents- out of the shopping bags. “Here. These are supposedly the best tents on the market. Small and compact, easy to assemble, durable, and expensive as all hell so if either of you rips it one? Tough shit. Share the not ripped one or learn how to patch holes.” 

They both know well enough that she’s not kidding about that and shoot each other nervous glances before nodding in tandem. 

“The instructions to assemble them are inside the bags- I think you two are intelligent enough to figure it out.” she says while watching the looks the two super soldiers continue to exchange. “Good luck, and have fun guys.” she throws over her shoulder as she walks away. God knows they were lucky to have gotten this much of Pepper’s valuable time. 

Eventually Natasha- who they both have forgotten is still sitting there- clears her throat and stands up. 

“You guys leaving soon?” 

“Yeah, as soon as we get the car packed up I guess we can head out. I want to at least make it halfway through Pennsylvania tonight.” Steve says with a smile at her as he ignores Bucky’s loud groan. Anyone who has driven through Pennsylvania knows that it is one of the worst states to drive through- right alongside Ohio which they would also be driving through, tragically enough. Really- with the route Steve has planned out they will be hitting every nightmare state. Bucky comes to find that out the hard way. 

“Because we seriously can’t just be normal tourists and catch a plane to Arizona?” Bucky grumbles as he gets around. It was a purely hypothetical question, he knows that if they really were going to do this, driving around and sleeping in the woods by far was the safest option they had.   
Not many people would ever suspect Captain America and his pet Winter Solider to take a roadtrip like this and as long as they kept their heads down, he was pretty confident that they could pull this off without tripping any national security threat alerts. 

“You won’t make it past the metal detector now shut up and grab some bags to help get this shit to the car. Take off in thirty.” Steve puts on his no-nonsense Captain voice and grabs the tents off the floor along with two of the shopping bags, walking out before another word can be said about it. 

Bucky knows no one is going to help him and Steve has already dug his heels in on this plan so nothing is going to stop or change it so he gathers the rest of the bags into his arms and treks down the steps towards the garage, just hoping that this would not end how the rest of Steve’s grand plans usually end- with someone hurt, killed, or in mortal danger.  
It’s just a road trip. How bad could it be? he asks himself as he helps Steve stuff the back of a Subaru full of all their gear, run a final inventory check to be sure they have everything- and having to not so patiently remind Steve that there is a WalMart every twenty miles and if they forgot something they can just buy it there when he wanted to go through their entire inventory again. They look at each other and finally both crack nervously excited smiles as Steve turns the car on, pulls out of the garage, leaving Stark Tower quickly behind in the distance, knowing they would not be back for awhile.

It is a weird sort of feeling that overtakes Bucky the further they get away from what has become his new normal. Since escaping Hydra he’s developed a sort of routine with himself. Once he settled in with Steve and made peace with the Avengers he’d fallen into even more of a steadfast and solid routine that has been much more stable and comforting. Since reclaiming his mind as his own he’s always had a routine for himself that he follows that helps to keep him sane and to feel in control. He y hates anything messing with that routine. But now that he is here in the moment, departing for a few weeks long road trip that leaves everything up in the air- he is surprisingly calm.

He implicitly trusts Steve and knows that his friend would not let any harm come to him so despite his unease about being so far from everything he knows that makes him comfortable- he isn’t scared. In fact (not that he will admit it to Steve just yet) he is actually getting pretty excited about this whole concept. 

“We’re really doing this, huh pal?” 

“Yeah Buck, Yeah we are.” Steve looks over at him with a smile when they stopped at a red light in typical New York traffic. “Just like we always talked about doing but now with the added luxury of heated seats, air conditioning, and bluetooth music.” he grins at him and waves his phone around in Bucky’s face, which the ex assassin wastes no time in grabbing and storing in his lap. 

“Which you will not be messing with while you are driving. You are terrifying enough behind the wheel without the added distraction of you trying to play shitty DJ as well.” Bucky says confidently while unlocking the phone and pulling up his own playlist on Steve’s Spotify, letting the comforting sounds of his own music spill through the speakers. 

“First of all- I learned to drive in World War two Nazi Germany so yes, driving in modern day New York City is very different but your driving is no less terrifying- and second, your music taste is horrible and I am not going to listen to... whatever the hell this is all the way across the country.” Steve makes a fuss about it but they both know that he will gladly suffer through as many hours of Bucky’s hipster music tastes as it took purely because he knows how much Bucky loves it and anything he can do to make Bucky happy, he will no matter the costs to himself. 

Unfortunately Bucky knows that all too well and he just looks at Steve with a leering smirk as he reaches forward and turns the volume knob up a little higher, leaning back in his seat contently. 

This was going to be a long trip and Bucky fully intended to make the absolute best out of it.


End file.
